Bad Blood in the City: The Piety Street Sessions

James Blood Ulmer

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 8, 2007)
• Original Release Date: May 8, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hyena
• ASIN: B000NVL4S8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #160,307 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Living Blues

"Ulmer is a major 21st century blues artist who transcends category, and this disc is a major work."

Product Description

Bad Blood In The City: The Piety Street Sessions is James Blood Ulmer's most recent collaboration with Vernon Reid and The Memphis Blood Blues Band. It's built around a cycle of original Ulmer songs which directly address Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. With this album, Ulmer has delivered one of the most stirring and emotionally powerful recordings of his career. There are also a handful of classic blues interpretations that serve to further explore Katrina's sub-plot of race, poverty and struggle, including readings of Son House's "Grinnin' In Your Face," Junior Kimbrough's "Sad Days, Lonely Nights," John Lee Hooker's "This Land Is No One's Land," Bessie Smith's "Backwater Blues," Howlin Wolf's "Commit A Crime" and Willie Dixon's "Dead Presidents."

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good,but just a little overproduced, May 29, 2007

By	Rev KM Williams "revkmwilliams" (dallas, tx United States) - See all my reviews

Don't get me wrong! I Am a Big Fan of James Blood Ulmer. I feel he has found his calling as a 21th century bluesman;but on this record ,which has a great concept and sound,I feel is a little overproduced;too much studio and not enough of that angular,Ornette Coleman sounding Blood Ulmer guitar(unlike his last disc "Birthright" which was brilliant!)Vernon Reid should have made the production a little more sparce sounding so more of that Blood Ulmer guitar would have come thru. That being said; the compositions on this CD are great and have an important message, I hope commerically, this CD is a success for Blood;because For my ears it's his most popular sounding,blues CD. Just wish it was a little more hardcore Blood Ulmer.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Vernon, leave your guitar at home., June 5, 2007

By	Rick Bulwicz (Central Jersey) - See all my reviews

I'm a Huge Blood fan, and love all of his music, but this record is a slight let-down. It's in no part due to James Ulmer's performance, but rather Vernon Reid's presence.
James Ulmer's strength is his droning, moody A-tuned guitar with his strong and slightly-garged voice. If you've heard "Birthright" that's Ulmer at his best.
Vernon Reid should remember to leave his guitar at home when producing Ulmer. Reid's 1,000 note-a-minute style just walks all over Ulmer. He is no blues player in the style that Ulmer is. Ulmer can play ONE note and weave it into a feeling. Vernon Reid is always in a race with himself. Combine that with the loud, overly-full production, and James Ulmer is drowned out and lost in the mix. Underneath it all is a great performance by Ulmer. But trying to listen to it through all of that noise is annoying.

3.0 out of 5 stars Surprise for me..., May 14, 2009

By	Firestarter "Best regards from Firestarter" (NY State, United States) - See all my reviews

I have been a big fan of Ulmer's harmolodic guitar style since the 70's. I hated his singing style, though. I just couldn't stand him singing. I was always of opinion that James should refrain from singing for the good of all his fans and himself.

I am also a longtime blues aficionado, since the 60's. That is another reason I couldn't stand Ulmer's singing the blues. He used to sound phoney and out-of-place.

That said, I have to admit, that this record is, undoubtedly, his best vocal record so far. You either play harmolodic guitar, or you sing the blues. There is no middle ground here (as it used to be in his previous "blues" recordings).

Overall, I am sad to see Ulmer's departure from the harmolodic guitar, but I am starting to appreciate his blues efforts.